xt on fox 45 morning news. a fire breaks out in northwest baltimore. how close it was to another fire just hours earlier. my children are -- schools out for five city schools forever. the head of city schools weighs in live instudio. and did the judges find an angelic voice at the city of angels. the most memorable los angeles american idol audition. good morning. it's wednesday, january, 27th. i'm patrice harris. the judges admitted their expectations were high when they headed to los angeles to find the next american idol, but did they get their hopes up too mu

much. >> i'm judging myself ♪ ♪ i want you to love me ♪ i want you to love me ♪ i get down on my knees ♪ i'll do anything for you >> we want to know what you thought about last night's show. what were the most memorable auditions and who did you that i made it through that did not deserve it. whatever you think about the show, post your reaction at our facebook or twitter page. just go to foxbaltimore.com or send us a tweet at fox baltimore. or send uwe need check in with . i don't know what i can think about some of these performances. i can't keep it together. >> you see a judge go like this and that means, they're getting into it, right away. [ laughter ] >> i'm going to move over by the graphic. let's adjust the graphic and see what is happening out there.

31 degrees in baltimore, 30 degrees in harrisburg, pittsburgh at 23, so there's cool air out there and it's going to get cold. a west to east flow is bringing snow showers to pennsylvania, new york but not our way. it's going to be a dry day around here. we should see some sunshine. indicating there's changes after the cold front pushes through. see the big low pressure center blowing through texas. that is the one coming our way and we believe it's going to bring us snow on friday night into saturday. we will have more on that coming up. mostly sunny today, and a little breezy but not too bad. cold this weekend with the highs in the near 20s to near 30. snow arrives on friday night into your saturday. i will tell you more about that a little bit later, but for now what is happening on the roadways, ca candace dold is hee with the traffic edge. >> reporter: simon was disturbed by a few of those

performances i'm sure. if you're out and hitting the roadways here in baltimore we do have to talk about construction in the heart of downtown. it's on guilford avenue at fayette and baltimore street. there will be lane closures throughout the morning rush so you will find con discretion co. just use st. paul street to get around the area as your alternate route. at 95 at the fort mchenry tunnel, we can show you the northbound and southbound lanes are zipping along in both directions. now speaking of the actual 95 stretch, right now from the fort mchenry tunnel all the way down toward the beltway, so far so good and the northbound lanes, pretty much the same deal. 5 minutes at 54 miles per hour. southbound 895, right now from the har on bore tunnel toward 95, 9 minutes at 53 miles per hour. look at the beltway, outer loop west from 795 to 95, we're loving that 11 minutes at 55 miles per hour. that's a look at the morning commute. pa trirks over tpatrice, over t.

a firefighter is injured battling a two-alarm house fire in northwest baltimore. it happened before 3:00 this morning along garrison boulevard. megan gilliland joins us from the scene with more on this fire. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, the firefighter was hurt after he slipped and fell trying to put out the fire. we are told that he twisted his ankle and hurt his knee. he was taken to mercy medical center and we have learned that fortunately he is expected to be okay. back at the scene, no blinking lights anymore. the final fire company left a while ago after making sure that all the hotspots were out at that home. a much different scene than we saw this morning. a lot of fire companies responded. it was a two-alarm fire that broke out before 3:00 this morning. before firefighters arrived, this home was fully engulfed in flames. a lot of damage done to this home. you can see that the front portion is starting to collapse in.

fortunately it's a va vacant ho, and no one was inside at the time. no word on what might have started this fire. >> there were some reports, you know, that people walked in and out of this structure, although it's vacant, but it's too early for us to have any sense of what may have started this fire. >> reporter: we do know that the response time was not a factor here this morning. the first crew arrived two minutes after the call came in. many of the companies harp on the scene here this morning were actually, half a mile away fighting another fire at garrison boulevard at the time this call came in. they were able to get here very quickly. in that situation it was a vacant home, and no one was injured in that fire as well. definitely a sigh of relief at both scenes that these fires were safely brought under control. live in northwest baltimore, i'm anything amegan gilliland, fox g news.

anne arundel release the name of the victim. john laurel was killed in the blaze. the flames started in the home's master bedroom. they're still trying to determine the cause and whether or not the smoke detectors in the home were working. another group of schools is on the chopping block in baltimore city. school officials call them under performing, parents say they are not so sure. joel d smith is here with a list of those schools that are proposed to school. joel. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, school's ceo dr. an ans alonzo will affect the middle school. wincwinston, dick johnson and m johnson high school. and the plans call for changes at 7 other pe will he pour low e schools. the schools have capacity for 700 students and only 200 are

enrolled. they will allow the parents to determine where their children want to attend. the choices are difficult but parents need better choices for their children, it's another step in that direction. >> reporter: what they are clearly gaining here is 12 schools that are rethought so there are better options for kids which is whatever every school system in america should be doing. they should be increasing the number of good options for their kids. >> this is just a distraction for the bigger picture, the power tricks, the land developing, land swapping. >> some parents like her from the chopping block say they will fight the decision and they will will have sometime to do so. the board needs approve the closures and the parents will get their say in all on of in two public hearings. at least one will happen at 2 public schools. joel d smith fox 45 morning

news. stay with fox 45 morning news. for continuing coverage of this story. we will talk to ceo of the schools dr. andres alonzo about the decision. a controversial new grading system is put on hold. the program called aim became the target of many teachers saying that it creates useless unnecessary work. the creator aim, said it was to offer more information about the student progress. but last night the school board halted the options of implementing. >> there's a whole issue of the progress reporting component that have yet to be developed and those have to be developed before it should be implemented. >> the new system faced ethic questions about who own the copyright. an assistant to superintendent joe harrison developed the program and wanted to sell it. coming up president obama

prepares to make his first state of union tonight. what he is expected to say to try to win back more independence. we have a dry day today with plenty of

>>stick to it, you can use packing tape to make things you can wear. find out how at tape o-rama at the american museum. pete is live for this morning's hometown hot spot. >> hi, pete. >> hi, patrice h. >> i'm great, but we have to

start off with you explaining why i want to tape my clothes. >> here at the art museum we do a lot of things with stuff that you didn't know you could do. we have a big party coming up. the life liberty and perceive of happiness and we are here showing us how to make out of packing tape. that means anybody can come and get dressed up. >> so all packing tape, there's no other materials or products used to make this? >> this is just packing tape. annie, as you can see is making a little globe. she used a form of crumpled up newspaper to get the globby form there and is now layering packing tape and that is it. >> we're going to come to you guys throughout the show and take a look at the things that you have created because they are very interesting and very nice, not what i thought we

would get from packing tape. i'm a believer now. >> fantastic patrice, you're welcome to come up to the party on february 13th. >> tape-o-rama is on saturday from 10:00 a.m. till noon and from noon until 2:00. for more information go to foxbaltimore.com/morning. we are talking about a winter storm coming your way this weekend. right now things are quiet. check out the sky hd radar and you will see not a whole lot going out there at this time. as we put things into motion, just to the north there's a little lake-effect moving to the north in pennsylvania and new york state. that is moving west and east out of our way. it's not going to present us much of an issue today. we should see sunshine, and the westerly flow we can see here is 5-10 miles per hour, maybe becoming breezier this afternoon, 10-15 miles per hour. back to the west 10-mile per hour windier in higher elevations. temperature wise, not bad,

32 degrees in baltimore, could be worse. 32 in d.c. the same for salisbury. up if hagerstown, 18 degrees. and as we look at the future scan model clearing skies, dry conditions with sunshine but an approaching sunshine that could bring snow to the western part of the state by about noon tomorrow and then not making its way over the state. that is when it's going to push through, but it's going to bring in a lot of cold air. the next thing it's going to bring our way, is the low pressure center to follow. that low is going to bring a chance of snow. definitely the southern part of our region we're expecting some snow. the question is will that come up the coast or not. we have a lot of cold air coming in from the north. that cold is going to be setting the stage for the low pressure center to either come straight up the coast and bring us a pretty significant snow or it may instead be coming and moving a little further out to assay in which case, we will get less. i'm thinking in the neighborhood, but this is an

early call, 4 to 6 to 8 inches for friday to saturday. mostly clear skies, and a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. mostly clear skies. we will be pretty up there but on the cool side even though the normal is 31. the western part of maryland, cooler 37 degrees for the high, with a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind and partly cloudy skies. tonight, 30 degrees with partliy skies that will turn mostly cloudy overnight. as we look ahead you will see 42 degrees for tonight's temperature at the beginning with 30 degrees for the average temperature around the area. we will get to the 40 degrees at noon and 42 the high temperature around 2:00 p.m., backing up to 38 at 6:00 and 46 degrees for tomorrow. milder then before the real cold air comes in for friday, and snow arrival we expect for friday late. 26 degrees on saturday, 30 with partly cloudy skies for your sunday. so looking a bit better there and drying out.

38 and 42, for your monday and tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips and iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45's powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. thaiferable conditions on many of the main lines. so far so good on the west side of the beltway. at 57 traveling through the catonsville region. we need to talk about baltimore this morning. there's construction on guilford avenue. it's right between fayette street and baltimore street, but the problem is, there will be lane closures that are expected throughout the morning rush. as a result of that you will want to use st. paul street as the alternate route. the main lines not doing too bad you through the city right now. we can show you what it looks like at the harbor tunnel. delay free southbound and

northbound stretch as well. as for 95, at 395, near the stadium. we can show you that scene and a lot of cars that are starting to filter in but to far in excellent shape, southbound and northbound lanes. that pretty much continues moving up through rosedale and eventually toward the beltway. speaking of the beltway checking in at pulaski highway, pretty empty there on the inner loop lanes and building with a little bit of volume on the inner loop lanes bound toward 95. that's a look at morning commute. patrice, back to you. here comes the bride. wedding in a week sponsored by fox 45, wedding wire.com and bridal baltimore. one lucky couple will get an entire wedding on us. to enter send us 100 words why you should win. send that entry to 2,000 west 41st street, baltimore 21211. send us a photo with your entry.

you only have until friday to enter, so you have to act fast because next week we will meet our four finalist throughout next week and next friday we will announce the grand prize winner. that is when the fun starts. you get to vote on all the details of their wedding. the viewers will get to vote on the dress, the food, the honeymoon, and all of that will be decided by you and we will put together their wedding in just one week. of course, you can get ideas for your special day at the baltimore bridal show happening february 6th and 7th at the baltimore convention center.

out-scrubs two sheets of the bargain brand. game on. bounty extra soft. look for new prints. ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ spread a little somethin' to remember ♪ ♪ ♪ spread a little joy and see ♪ need a little happiness to be ♪ ♪ living the life with me ♪ ♪ spread a little joy and see ♪ need a little happiness to be ♪

♪ living the life with me ♪ president barack obama first state of the union address is tonight. he is expected to focus heavily on the middle-class. samantha hayes has a preview from washington.

>> reporter: when president barack obama stands before congress on wednesday night to deliver his first state of the union address expect to hear a lot about job creation and fiscal responsibility, healthcare reform will take a back seat. >> i think the key in this speech, what he will discuss more than anything is getting our economy moving again. >> reporter: president obama is expected to announce a proposal to save $250 billion by freezing non-security federal discretionary spending. he is also expected to announce a freeze on salaries of top white house officials and admnistration appointees, but for the white house a new message on fiscal responsibility will take some convincing for critics. >> it's going to take much more than just this kind of modest freeze to get us back on the right track. >> reporter: the obama admnistration must convince critics within the democratic party who are concerned about potential cuts to federal programs. >> it's not like every single agency is frozen. this is not a hatchet, it's a

scalpel. we will be investing on the things that . >> reporter: the president is expected to address healthcare reform and terrorism and push for an additional $4 billion in spending on education. sitting with the first lady tonight, the two fort hood police officers hailed as heros after the november shooting. in washington, i'm samantha hayes. baltimore's incoming mayor is expected to attend tonight's state of the union address. senator ben cardin invited stephanie rawlings-blake to go to the address as his guest. president barack obama had distanced himself from sheila dixon after she had been charged on corruption charges. rawlings-blake wants to repair the relationship with the white house. she will take over on february 4th. we will talk to a political analyst about the state of the union address and what the president will cover. that is coming up later this hour. and remember, you can watch the president's state of the union address right here on fox 45.

it airs tonight at 9:00. still ahead, the chief of baltimore city schools says he will shutdown the city's work schools. we will -- worst schools. we will talk to him about his plan instudio coming up. ♪ like you she also told me >> american idol heads to warm and sunny, california. who impressed the judges and who

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stocks dropped late in the trading day tuesday, despite a better than expected consumer confidence report and strong earnings from apple ahead of what is highly anticipated the debut of the new tablet computer on wednesday. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 ended slightly lower. the home sales took a hit. the s&p k shill edged down from the month before. some analyst predict a slowing buying season over the winter but a buying up swing this spring when the home tax buyer credit expires. $75 billion more, than first projected. the new price tag for the american recovery and reinvestment act is $862 billion. the largest contribute or to the increase is the government

spending on unemployment spend indication payments. ford motor is expanding its workforce by 1200 in illinois part of a 4 million plan to produce the new ford explorer at the economic owe assembly plant. it will be 25% more fuel efficient and will go into production on the 4th quarter of 2010. for business brief, i'm stan case. coming up we got the studs and duds of american idol. ♪ ♪, yes she told me ♪ she also told me. >> the other judges had to say about last night's idol contestants. and the list is in. i'm joel d

the people who walked these streets before us were just like you and me.

with hopes. dreams. challenges. today, we do more than just walk the same streets. for a moment, we get to walk in their shoes. preparing us for what lies ahead. down our next road. be part of the story. colonial williamsburg.

welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 6:29 is the time. i'm patrice harris. it's where everyone goes to find their big break, so expectations were pretty high when the american idol judges headed to los angeles for last night audition, but did they find the next american idol. >> showed me ♪ ♪ loves like you ♪ she also told me ♪ stay away >> we want to know what you thought about last night's show. what were the most memorable auditions whether good or bad. who do you think made it through that shouldn't have. whatever you think about the last night's show, post your reaction on facebook or twitter

page or send us a tweeter at fox baltimore. now let's check in with meteorologist steve fertig and see what he has in store for us. >> this is -- we met a while ago >> no, he is not going anywhere. we're going somewhere. we're going to take a look at -- 31 degrees in baltimore, yep and in hagerstown there's 30 degrees up there, generally in the low 30s throughout the area ask it's going to get real chilly around here. you are looking at clear skies around our area right now, and the possibility of snow coming our way for friday night into saturday. for today throug 32 degrees andt wind. you're going to do the whole weather, and where you go to school? >> early manner middle school.

>> you're in 7th grade there? >> yes. >> right now what are we going to do? >> go to candace with the traffic. perfect job. if you're heading out and hitting the roadways, we do need to talk about baltimore this morning. in fact right in the heart of downtown baltimore. there's construction on guilford avenue, right between fayette street and baltimore street. here is a problem, lane closures are expected throughout the morning rush and unfortunately obviously a lot of congestion. you have seen st. paul street as a better bet for the alternate route. as far as the commute in the downtown region traveling through the fort mchenry tunnel, checking in that area, we do want to check the southbound lanes. southbound lanes definitely building conditions there. the entire stretch from the fort mchenry tunnel all the way down toward the beltway so far so good. just an 8-minute ride at bief miles pe55 miles per hour. that's a look at morning commute. patrice, back to you. fire rips through a

northwest baltimore home. it happened just before 3:00 this morning along dorchester road. we're told that a firefighter was injured battling that blaze. megan gilliland joins us live from the scene with more on the firefighter's condition. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. that firefighter was hurt when he slipped and fell trying to put the fire out. he sprained his ankle and hurt his knee. he taken to mercy medical center earlier and we have learned that he is expected to be okay. back at the scene, a much different scene than we saw earlier this morning. the last fire company left probably 20 minutes ago, but take a look at how the things looked earlier this morning. this is a two-alarm fire that broke out before 3:00 this morning. when firefighters arrived at the scene, the home was fully engulfed in flames. a lot of damage done to the home this morning. the front portion is starting to collapse in. fortunately this is a vacant home and no one was inside at the time. no word yet on what might have

started this fire. >> it's too early at this point to know what might have started the fire but we have our fine investigators on standby to gain entry once the conditions are safe to do so to perform assessments into the cause. >> reporter: we do know that response time was ant a factor here this morning. the first company arrived on the scene just 2 minutes after the call was made. some the companies that were here at this scene were actually just down the street about a half a mile away on garrison boulevard. their crews were there work an overnight fire that broke out about 11:30 last night. in this situation as well it was a vacant home, no one injured there, either. a sigh of relief from both of these seendz tha scenes that ths were safely put under control. megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. hundreds of city school students are going to school this morning that might be gone next year. school ceo andres alonzo is proposing another round of closures.

joel d smith is here with a the list of the schools. >> reporter: school ceo andres alonzo says it's all about creating better choices for parents. that can only be done by close schools with lower performance. middle schools winston, chi qi chinquapin middle school, diggs johnson, and west baltimore middle school and doris johnson. this plan would allow parents of 5th grader to choose where they want to a tend middle school in their own neighborhood or anywhere else in the city. still some parents are not buying it. >> this is just a distraction for the bigger picture, the power trips. >> i don't know that they should close. it's the only schools that we have in this neighborhood are wince stonwinston and chinquapie

overcrowded. parents will get their say on all of this at two public hearings next month and the board still has to approve the closures as well. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. stay tuned for fox 45 morning news for continuing coverage of this story. we will talk to ceo dr. andres alonzo later this morning. that is coming up. later, they came to wow the judges. >> the rain is falling, still some cover ♪ ♪ some scheme >> but did they get the job done? what simon had to say about this guy's singing voice coming up next. we don't have many accidents out there, but we do have a lot of volume out on the roadways. check out 95 at the 895 merge. a lot of cars filling up those lanes there. i will s

is the next american idol from los angeles. the judges took their search for the next big star to the city of angels, and from the sound of it, they might have a hit on their hands. >> sunday morning ♪ ♪ rain is falling ♪ still some cover share some

scheme ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ clouds are spotting >> all the judges really seemed to like andrew, but he made the biggest impression on simon. >> the only person who has walked through today who i genuinely believe is a good singer, a genuinely, genuinely, good, good singer. >> wow that, is high praise from simon. let us know what you thought about andrew and all of the contestants on last night's show. you can post your reaction on facebook or twitter page. just go to facebook at fox baltimore or send us a tweet at fox baltimore. you can follow candace dold on her idol blog, as she takes us behind the scenes all season long. that is at foxbaltimore.com just click on american idol under the entertainment section. if you can't get enough, you can see more american idol tonight at 8:00 on fox 45. here is somebody we can't get enough of meteorologist

steve fertig especially on a wednesday. and you told us that you are 12 years old. >> yes. >> and you told me you go to school where? >> early man amidle school. >> you want to say to anybody? >> hi. >> that covers it, huh. >> you're ready to get started. >> yes. >> let's take it away. it's all yours. >> the current temperature is 31 degrees, mostly clear skies with winds at southwest 5, humidity 61%, pressure 30.06 and rising, dew point 19 degrees. >> great, throw the temperatures out there, go ahead. nice job and where do they land? >> hagerstown 30, baltimore 31. >> come back a little bit. >> salisbury 32. >> what about the hd radar, what is that showing us? >> the hded radar is showing us clear skies. >> to the north. >> a little snow in pennsylvania and new york.

>> not coming our way. >> no. >> what is coming our way. we have? >> sunshine and a little snow to the west. >> due to the cold front. >> yes. >> what is next. >> in the weekend we have some snow due to the low pressure. >> it's coming our way. we may get hit with a little winter, maybe several inch of snow. we will have on see. >> the forecast for today, clear skies, 42 degrees, winds west, 10-115 which is going to be breezy. >> tonight? >> tonight's forecast will be partly cloudy, 30 degrees with winds west, southwest 10 -- 5-10. >> absolutely, and what about the seven-day forecast. >> the seven-day forecast is today 42, mostly sunny. >> uh-huh. >> 46, partly cloudy, friday 30 which is going to start off partly cloudy but then gets snowy. >> right at night. >> and saturday 26, snowing. >> uh-huh.

>> sunday, 30 partially cloudy. monday 38, partly cloudy -- i d. >> mostly clear. >> and tuesday partly cloudy. >> you have done this before haven't you? >> no. >> first time ever. >> and you're taking over for me starting tomorrow. >> no, i've got school. >> you got school. it gets in the way, doesn't it sometimes. >> yes, it does. >> absolutely. you want to toss it back to? >> patrice. >> you did a great job. i don't believe just like steve, you have done this before. no you haven't? >> no. >> you got to go to school tomorrow but would you rather be here hanging out with us. >> you would. >> if this is not what you want to do the rest of your life, what do you want to do when you grow up, what do you want to do? >> a chef. >> we like that. >> what is your favorite thing to cook. >> anentree.

>> any kind of entree? >> we will write some orders and you can bring it back to the station. if you would like your kid to be a part of our weather kid wednesday, they got to know how to cook, too. no, all they have to have a teacher or counselor send steve a note at 2,000 west 41st street, baltimore 21211. or send him a note. not a bad idea bringing some food from the weather, wow. if you're heading out and hitting the roadways and unfortunately after you finish breakfast you will have to encounter slow goes out there. starting on the west side of the beltway at 48 miles per hour traveling near security boulevard. but then, it picks back up again. 54 miles per hour traveling through catonsville. we do need to talk about baltimore, though. there's some construction on guilford avenue, it's right between fayette street and baltimore street. the problem is there are going to be lane closures throughout the morning rush and as a result

of that, you will want to use st. paul street. it's a much better bet for the alternate route. the jfx, it's a comfortable ride on the southbound stretch approaching the downtown region and the northbound lanes all the way up toward the beltway. on 83, just north of 695, heading right from baltimore county, here it is building conditions, northbound and southbound lanes approaching the beltway exit there. as for the beltway, favorable conditions from greenspring avenue up toward reisterstown road and eventually toward 795. that's a look at the morning travels. patrice, back over to you. thank you, candace. coming up the doors on baltimore's worst schools will soon close for good. and of course, that was not the proper video, but the school closings aren't sitting well with everyone, but why the boss says it's till a good idea. next president obama will speak to the nation, we ask a @

snrz . a team from john hopkins is preparing to leave for haiti. that group consists of doctors, nurses and other medical experts who have desaster response training of the they will be headed for the university hospital at port-au-prince where they will provide health care for the earthquake survivors. a second team will go to haiti on february 4th. governor o'malley is changing the date for the state of the state address for a second time. it was iernlgl originally schedr today but was pushed back because of the president's state the union. it was for february 4th but stephanie rawlings-blake is going to be sworn in on that day so the state of the state is scheduled for noon on february

second. president obama will deliver the first state of the union tonight. it's focused to the middle-class americans and issues that are important to them. what do americans want and need to hear. political analyst john diddy joins us this morning with a preview. >> how much will the message change from what we have heard from president obama from what he has addressed in tonight? >> i think there will be a slight change due to the election last week in massachusetts. i think he is going to try to move toward the middle more. we have talked about spending about 17% of the budget which is a good start. i think he is going to be trying to reach for the broader audience. >> his freeze on the political spending for the next three years, does that prove that he is focused on the needs and wants of the people. is that what brings him back to

the middle. a lot of people criticize him, he is too focused on health care. we need to talk about economic recovery. >> it depends on how far he carries it for the next step, because the next 10 months because they got the early quake up call. they need to focus on jobs and the issue of healthcare. they said last year they agree on 70% of republicans, get the 70% because half a loaf is better than n none. >> is he speaking to democratic and lawmakers as he is to the american public. you mentioned that a wake-up in massachusetts with the republican winning what had been a democratic seat for so long, a lot of democrats may be scared or shaky on what is going to happen in the upcoming election. is this a move to assure them that the democratic party is all right and we're going to be all right and get through this. >> reporter: he is going to be trying to speak more of we got a little bit of a message.

we're going to focus more toward the middle as far as what the american people need. and stress on they have been focusing on some of the stuff. he will use the bush word as far as reminding people look at the mess i inherited. here is what we have done so far. as americans we are very impatient. we are the type of people that want to make a u-turn in a basic chevy. instead the problem in fixing the economy is like making a u-turn in a tractor trailer truck. it takes a long period of time. and in a recession unemployment is the lagging period of time. he has to move toward the middle and reassure democrats that he is on board and they got the message. >> a lot of people had talked about his falling approval ratings, the numbers there. will the speech do anything to give those a boost? >> i think he always gives a good speech and i think that historically for presidents when they show up on t.v., they go ga 2 to 3 point boost after the

speech. they may not like the president wh-- the person who is presiden, but they respect the office of the president. >> but long-term does that boost stay around. >> only if the economy gets better. if they carry through with the freeze on spending, if they carry through on these programs, yes it helps them. >> we will be watching the speech tonight here in our station at 9:00. thank you, john, very much. ladies if you're trying to put your hair up, this could be for you? >> judging by the way it stretches and the way the is up, i think it's going to be a do. >> find out if the easy comb really works. and the doors on baltimore's worst schools could soon be closing for good and that is not sitting well with everyone. the district's top man first started taking airborne

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under a proposal city school, several under performing city schools could close for good by next year. the proposal would give children children. on the chopping block are winston, chinquapin, and digs johnson along with doris johnson middle school. dr. andres alonzo is here with us this morning. >> a lot of parents are concerned, my children go to that school. what makes it about those schools that need to be closed and can't be reform in anyway. >> as the system is moving forward, remarkably, there's schools that are not progressing at the same rate and especially in a context where we're trying to target our resources and we

see parents choosing other options and then you know, we need to make decisions about making sure that we focus on particular schools and particular out comes. it's not necessarily about, i heard you say, you know the worst schools. we have some of shows schools that are actually showing signs of progress. diggs johnson showed signs of progress last year. i have great confidence in that principal. winston middle has been a school that out performs some of the other schools. what we see is that the parents as a phak o factor of schools gg from k through 8 and of charter opening up and. parents exercising a choice about where they want to send their kids. the numbers in many of those schools have become very, very small to sustain programs. so it actually drove resources from the rest of the system in order to sustain those programs. at the same time, we are trying

to methodically, close, lower-performing schools when we see that kids are having a better chance elsewhere as a way of lifting everything that is going on in the system. >> what do you say to the parents who their immediate concern is i don't want to send my child out of this area. this is what we know. i'm comfortable with them here. other schools are crowded. >> the reality is many schools are overcrowded. this is a school system that has lost kids in the last 10 years. >> why is that? >> because there's not been good choices for parents. parents are incredibly smart where they want to send their kids. he you have them shopping for options. too many parents who do not have options end up in schools that are not working for their kids. we are working very hard to make sure that in every cluster of the city there's options so the kids can go to school as near as

home as possible. in the case of sometime programs that we're closing, we're not closing the school and making the actions going on way. we are putting another school in that building. so the real conversation should be what is the community look like in the long run in terms of its relationship to the school? are we putting in more successful options for parents in place of an option that parents have walked away overtime. >> talk about the transformation schools, but we're seeing less of the traditional schools. what exactly is the transformation school and what is that designed to do? >> the transformation school has been a design that we have put in place in the last two years, six grade through 12th grade configurationing which is designed to get the school earlier into a setting that will hold them in the long run, because kids were getting lost in the middle grades. by the time the high schools had

gotten limb time t lsh little te to work with them and they ended dropping up. it's was a strategic to work with the schools they were getting into high school when he were 14, 15, and 16 years old and within a year they were choosing to step out. they were within settings that didn't know them. the other element of the work is that the transformation schools have been theme based. there's been an easy way to catch the attention of the parents. >> okay. >> and they are a part of a set of options that a works with k through 8th schools where the parent can choose to keep the kid in an elementary middle program. >> i know you can talk about the schools all day. we will talk about this more because the parents will have input in the next couple of months. >> absolutely. >> we will bring it up again. thank you. dr. andres a lonzs o alonzo. the terrapins won, will they hold on to their top spot.

anaan

>>ifire breaks out in forth west baltimore, how close it was to another fire just hours earlier. >> my children -- >> schools out for five city schools forever. the head of city schools weighs

in live in studio. >> i want you to love me ♪ >> the good and the bad and the downright awful, the most memorable american idol auditions in los angeles. good morning. it's wednesday, january 27th. i'm patrice harris. they were trying to make it to hollywood, even though tech techcally, they were already there. >> sunday morning rain is falling ♪ ♪ still some cover ♪ share some scheme ♪ yeah ♪ clouds are spotting ♪ the moments unforgettable >> american idol took its search for the next big star to los angeles last night. we want to know what you thought about last night's show. what were the most memorable auditions or maybe the not so memorable ones. you can post your reaction on

facebook and twitter page. go to facebook.com or send us a tweet to baltimore. already derod went to our facebook page and said last night's show was so hilarious, the people who audition are so crazy especially the guy who made katie perry feel dirty. the lady of the night is the one who had nice vocals. let us know what i think. let's go to steve fertig and find out what he thinks about the weather and the snow is headed our way. i can tell you what i think about that? >> i think i know what you think about that. not pretty. let's talk about the chance of snow coming your way for friday night into saturday, i'm thinking right now and this is an early call ask it could change, i'm thinking in the neighborhood of 4 to 8 inches possible. for now let's talk about the temperatures out the door. 31 degrees in baltimore, 31 in salisbury. the same for hagerstown, 18 in oakland, and as you see, we have

clear skies right now through much of the state. that will be the general trend through the afternoon until tonight when the clouds begin to work in with the cold front bringing us cold air. you see snow that is the deeper shades of white that is moving through pennsylvania and new york. that will continue to move west to east and not affect us. 32 degrees mostly clear skies today, west winds at 10-15 miles per hour will make for a breezy day at times. the focus is around what is happening around the southwest part of the u.s. and toward the west coast that will be headed in our direction as the winter storm for friday and saturday. right now candace dold has the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. the fobbing sus i focus is in b. we are talking about an accident that completely shuts down the ramp from moravia road to 895. you can see the flashing lights right off to the right there a lot of activity there, unfortunately completely

shutdown as you use lombard street and head to the 495. that's the better option. as far as 95, traveling on the northbound lanes, taking it from the fort mchenry tunnel all the way up toward 895, so far so good. a 5 minute clip at 54 miles per hour. pretty normal there. as far as the outer loop lanes of the beltway, that volume is definitely increasing. 95 up toward 83, 12 minutes now at 50 miles per hour, but then doing much better, 54 miles per hour with only an 8-minute drive from 83 up toward 795. that's a look at your morning travels, patrice, back to you. a firefighter is injured battling a two-alarm house fire in northwest baltimore. it happened just before 3:00 this morning along dorchester road. megan gilliland joins us live from the scene with the latest with what happened there, good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. that firefighter slipped and

fell trying to put the fire out. we are told he strained his ankle and hurt his knee. he was taken to mercy medical center and he is expected to be okay this morning. back at the scene a much different picture than we saw earlier this morning. the last fire company left a while ago but take a look at how things looked earlier this morning. it was a two-alarm fire that broke out before 3:00 this morning when crews arrived to the scene here, this home was fully engulfed in flames. you can see now that there's a lot of damage done this morning. the front portion of the home now starting to collapse. fortunately it is a vacant home and no one was inside at the time. no word yet, though on what might have started this fire. >> there were some reports that you know, people walked in and out of this structure, although it's vacant, but it's too early for us to have any sense as to what may have started this fire. >> reporter: we do he know that response time was not a factor here this morning. the first company actually

responded two minutes after the call came in. some of those companies were actually just down the street about a half a mile away on garrison boulevard where they were finishing up fighting a fire there that broke out around 11:30 last night. the same situation there, though, it was a vacant home. no one injured there. definitely a sigh of relief here this morning that both of these fires have been put out safely and of course, no serious injuries this morning to report. live in northwest baltimore, i'm megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. a team from john hopkins is on its way to haiti this morning. 10 members of the hopkins go team will fly out of thurgood airport. the team consists of doctors and nurses who have desaster relief training. they will provide health care for earthquake survivors. >> we will be working with the locals as well as with

international medical quarter to reestablish the health care system and try to set longer term care for the population. >> you can't save the world, but if you can help one child in one specific way, then the journey is worth it. >> a second team from john hopkins will go to haiti on february 4th. another group of schools is on the shopping block in baltimore city. while school officials call them under performing, some parents aren't so sure. joel d smith is here with a list of the schools. school ceo dr. andres alonzo. his proposal will affect schools at 12 schools. it includes the closure of four middle schools. here are the proposed closures, the middle schools winston, chinquapin, and digs joh diggs n and doris johnson middle

schools. only 200 are currently enrolled that's the problem. the problem would al-- it would allow parents and children to figure out where they want to attend school, either in their neighborhood or close by. the closures are another step in that direction. >> what they are clearly gaining here is 12 schools that are being rethought so that there are better options for kids which is what every school system in america should be doing. they should be increasing the number of good options for their kids. >> this is just a distraction for the bigger picture, the power tricks, the land developing, land swapping. >> some parents from the schools in the chopping block like vikki there say they will fight the decision and they will have time to do so. the board needs to approve the closures and the parents will get their say on all of these at two public hearings next month.

at least one meeting will also happen at every school on the list. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. we all know fast food is not good for us, but sometimes when there's just a burger joint on every block, it can be pretty hard to h resist. now one maryland lawmaker wants to give poe people more options. they have introduced a new bill to the general assembly that would keep new fast food restaurants at prince george's county. the new bill would put a moratorium and instead encourage healthy sit down restaurants to set up shop. in 2008 los angeles approved a similar ban for one year in the southern part of the city. we want to know what you think. should there be a ban on licenses for new fast food restaurants? that is the question of the day. we will take your calls later this hour. i can't wait to hear what you

have to say about this one. you can go to facebook or send us a tweet at fox baltimore or text your answer to 45203, enter fox 45a for yes or fox 45b for no. coming up, a workshop that requires you to pull out the packing tape. learn all about the items you can make with that sticky stuff. that is coming up next in our hometown hot spot. we got the calm before the storm, b

it's a sticky situation. you and your kids can use tape to make wearable art. it's all happening at the tape-o-rama. oh, wow, pete, love the hat. >> hi, patrice, thank you for noticing. >> and it's all made of tape. >> tape 100% packing tape. >> okay, so tell me about what is going on and why this program

that is all about things that you can make with tape? >> well, we love partnering up with the great group in town nano projects who do clever community oriented projects and they're going to be showing all the visitors at the american art museum how to make a tape hat, a hat made of 100% packing tape, maybe lights in there, but our ultimate intention is to dress you up for the february 13th pursuit of happiness party. >> so if i come to this event this weekend, i can go home with one of those fabulous hats? >> guaranteed. guaranteed. we will have the tape and know how and annie will be here, and so we don't want to give away too many of the tricks of the trade, but it's easier than you think. >> you get pretty fancy with it, so i'm intrigued. i want to see how it works. we will check in with you in a little bit. >> fantastic, patrice tape-o-rama is at the art

museum. there's two sessions this saturday, and for more no foundation log on to foxbaltimore.com slashing morning. sometimes people don't want to hear what i want to hear. tape comes in handy some days. we have a winter storm coming our way possibly this weekend. you may not want to hear it. dry conditions for the time being and this is the calm before the storm. we're going to be talking about though, the winter weather coming your way for friday into saturday. right now there's snow showers up in pennsylvania and in new york and it's going to stay up there for today. but a cold front is going to bring us cool air and the westerly flow again helping to keep the snow showers out of our way, only a 5-mile-an-hour wind for the most part. we will get 10-mile-an-hour winds later this afternoon a little windier toward the western part of the state toward oakland. here is a look at the temperatures, 31 degrees in baltimore. 32-degree reading at washington. 31 in sals burr hey, th salisbu.

and cooler still at 18 degrees at oakland. and we have dry conditions for the time being and that is going to bring us sunshine but the cold front is going to bring a chance tomorrow as it passes through as snow showers for the higher elevations to the west. it will dry as it makes its way across the state but it will bring us cold air. the low pressure center that follows coming out of gulf coast area and headed in our general direction is what threatens to bring us snow showers. it depends on how much of a cold rush we get from the north that is going to push the system to the south. if it does push it further south, then instead what we end up with is this system staying to the south as it moves east in wish case we get less. however, if that rush down where it does not is not as strong and the low pressure center is allowed to develop off the coast as well and it comes up the coast, then we get the possibility of a little bit more significant snow and right now, my thinking and this is an early call so things may change as the tracking has to be watched, but i'm going to say between 4 to

8 inches of snow friday night into saturday. again, i may very well change that quite a bit by tomorrow. right now that's the way it looks to me. the eastern shore with mostly clear skies today. the central part of the state getting up to the same 42, with a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. the western part of maryland chillier with 16 degrees for a high with a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. tonight 30 degrees the overnight low under partly cloudy skies, a west wind at 5-10 miles per. after the 42 tomorrow. milder still with part hely cloudy skiepartly cloudyskies. in comes the snow for friday night into saturday, and i know you want me to put the tape back over my mouth. 26 degrees on saturday, 30 degrees on sunday with partly cloudy skies, 38 and 32 for monday and for your tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45's powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. you may want to do that with this one.

interactive tools will let you see what rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on i radar. here is candace dold with a look at the traffic edge. >> reporter: that morning rush is definitely on out there. we are checking in on the actual speeds and it's starting to slow down especially on the west side of the beltway at 42 miles per hour moving through the catonsville region but then it does ease up a bit up near security boulevard at 53 miles per hour. we do have some big time trouble to talk about in baltimore this morning. an accident completely shuts down the ramp from moravia road on to northbound 895. we can show exactly what that scene looks like. there's a lot of flashing lights. we can see them on the edge at our camera. this is demanding a lot of theangattention. you will want to use lombard street and head on to 695 is the better route. 895 and 95 are incident free. it's sluggish on 895 through the rosedale region, just be aware

of reduced speeds there. on the top end of the beltway we do have a have a big time back up because of an accident on the beltway. it's generally jammed from bel air road leading up toward the flashing lights. just be aware we will continue to keep you up-to-date as soon as we get more information and hopefully it clears soon. as for 83, once you approach that area, at 695, we can show you that, just buil building conditions, northbound and southbound lanes. we do have trouble farther up in northern baltimore county. it's an accident on the southbound lanes of 83, that is right at belfast road. just use york road for the alternate route. that's' look at the morning travels. stay tuned. there's more coming up on fox 45 first started taking airborne

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good morning, everybody. here is your first look at sports. you know, this could prove to be quite an interesting year down in college park. maryland terrapins are looking like a he very goo very good bal team. they went outlast night and pounded a pretty good miami team and in the process won their 4th in a row. first half, maryland up by 8. maryland vasquez with a steal and he slams it home giving the terps an early 10 point lead. later in the first, they swing it around to eric hayes.

he knocks down to 3, terps up by 8, maryland continues to build the lead. vasquez drives. dishes to jordan williams for the hoop and the harm. the freshmen has 8 points. late first half, kick it off to vavasquez. the terps lead 17 at the break. maryland stays red-hot. shawn mosley are out of st. francis and pulls up the break. he added 10, terps up by 21. later in the second, vasquez leads hayes with a wide lay open. maryland up by 32 points at that point and they blowout miami, 89 to 59 to win their straight 4th game and take sole possession of the 3rd place in the acc. kristen berset was there and had this report from college park. >> coming into tonight's game the terrapins shared the top spot in the acc.

however after their dominating performance tonight they showed what gary williams has been preaching, team chemistry with 19 assists and a strong defense with 35 rebounds. >> we're trying to really believe that our defense is what is responsible for our ability to run offense, get the good shots because i think the aggressiveness on the defense the court leads to the offensive part of the game. hopefully we can continue to play good defense. >> we came to play. we came to win this game and we're trying to be aggressive. we have a lot -- the first couple of minutes and we took the lead. >> we are not ready -- i think we have a lot of firepower and score points. we are playing defense by the way we have been, we doing a lot of games. >> we come out and play hard. we got guys on the floor. we are taking them to the basket pretty aggressively. you know, we know where our game is we know when we're good and

we're trying to do the same formula every night. >> the chemistry, the same part and the same effort, you know, everybody is on one page at one time. i think we're doing a great job like out there. it's doing the good job. after him being consistent. >> reporter: with tonight's dominating win, the terps have sole possession of the first place of a at the acc. they are riding a wave of momentum that they head north to face the clemson tigers. lan den mill born had 16 points. the terp shot 61% from the field and scored 17 miami turnovers. maryland improves from 14 in high. 4 and 5th at the acc which is good enough for the sole possession of the first place. back here the orioles have filled their hole in the 3rd base and they are filling with an all-star who has an mvp

award. you can't blame miguel tejada if he feels he has come full circle. he was trade away after the '07 season. now six years later in the very same room, tejada got a one year deal for a reported 6 million. this is a different and a far better situation than the one he walked into in 2003. >> i think this is a second chance to be a winner. the last time i cannot be a winner, so i think this time is the time to be a winner. i come back here for a reason. like i say, one more time. i'm happy. i love to be here in baltimore and i hope this time we do what we were looking for last time. >> and some ravens news, quarterback hugh jackson has left the team to become the raiders defensive coordinator and john harbaugh added the former patriots bway. eat fresh.

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2010 census is about to get underway in our area. the information collected is for the communities. starting in april workers will go door to door to collect the necessary information and scammers are already starting to take advantage. in today's confidence consumer, angie barnett with the better business bureau is joining us more with how not to be taken advantage of. >> in april they have to go door to door to do what. >> you're going to fill out the census in march, for anybody who did not complete and turn it in, workers will go door to door and knock on your door and ask you to complete the 10 questions on

the census. >> the census is not going to come to you and ask you come work for us. >> exactly and they're not going to place an ad on craig's list or things like that. people have to be aware. you need to go to them and apply to them and you cannot apply online. if you're getting e-mail solicitations or advertisements somin something like craig's li, walk away. that is not valid. you can go to the local offices and you can get a lot of information on the hiring, they're part-time positions. you can get information at their website. >> and avoid the e-mails that say give me your social security number, i will give you a job. >> that is not going to happen. >> once they have the workers go door to door, they're not going to ask you the person information? >> that is where the biggest scam comes in. april to july they're incoming on our door and they're only asking questions on the census. if they start asking your social

security, driver's license, if they ask for any personal financial information, credit card, bank accounts, close the door. don't give any of that information and they're not going to call you and ask that information, either. and we're already seeing these scams happen, marylanders are getting something from you guys supposedly. >> absolutely. we have had people contacting our office saying they're receiving an e-mail that says the bbb is going to be a part of the census and begin to collect information. >> did you know that, angie? >> no, i didn't. i didn't know -- so people are getting fake e-mails already and that is the biggest door. you got to remember, they won't ask personal information and they're not going to send you an e-mail. they may knock on your door if you do not answer that census. what a lot of people don't know, you got to answer the census by law. it's a requirement. >> it's easier to fill it out, and send it in. >> get it over with and don't

answer the e-mails? >> if you would like more information about the better business bureau, log on to our website at foxbaltimore.com/morning. coming up later on fox 45 morning news, create a stylish up do on your own. it said that it works good on thick hair and thin hair. >> we find out if the easy comb can help you get the job done. but next limiting the number of fast food restaurants in prince george's county. the bill one state

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732 is the time. i'm patrice harris. the judges admitted their expectations were high when they headed to los angeless to fine the next american idol, but did they get their hopes too much. >> there's a place in my heart ♪ ♪ for you only ♪ no one else in this world ♪ >> we want to know what you thought about last night's show. what were the memorable auditions and maybe not the so good auditions. >> you can post your reaction at our facebook or twitter page. just go to facebook.com or twitter page. i like a respond, between the his story and talent, i teared up a little. right now let's head to steve fertig and get his thoughts on no. >> i believe she was a part-time

minister, that one, that story on that. >> let's get the story on the weather coming your way because we got as patrice indicated winter weather later on this week. right now 31 degrees and dry, 32 in d.c. and 31 in salisbury up had hagerstown. we are looking at clear skies for now with he snow showers to the north and pennsylvania and new york. that is not coming our way. what is coming our way, 42 degrees for the high today and then the chance of several inches of snow possible, possible for friday night into saturday and i will spell that all out for you in just a few minutes. we do want to see what is happening on the roadways now with candace dold who also saw the american idol information. she was a minister, wasn't she? >> there was a part-time minister and personal assistant, so that is kind of an interesting occupation. of course, there were a lot of good stories that pulled at your strings last night at l.a. here in baltimore not a good story traveling at top end of

the beltway at harford road. look at this big time backup because of an accident that tread at cromwell bridge road. the entire stretch from 95 heading toward 83, a heavy ride there, we're checking in on the actual time for you. it's going to be a big time back up. the entire post 20 minute-delay, 35 minutes for the actual time traveling at 17 miles per hour. so a big headache. now as far as the outer loop lanes on the west side, that volume continues to increase, and from 795 all the way down toward 9539 mile, 95, 39 miles r with a 16 minute clip. that's a look at the morning commute. patrice, back over to you. 5 rips through a northwest baltimore home. it happened just before 3:00 this morning along dorchester road. we're told the firefighter was injured. megan gilliland has the latest from the scene, good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, the firefighter was

hurt after he slipped and fell trying to put out this fire. we are told that he sprained his ankle that he injured his knee. he was taken to mercy medical center earlier this morning and we have learned that he is expected to be okay. back at the scene along dorchester road a different scene. last fire company left a while ago. take a look at how the things look earlier this morning. the two-alarm fire broke out just before 2:00 this morning. when crews arrived, the home was fully engulfed if flames. you can see a lot of damage was done here this morning. the front portion starting to collapse in. fortunately this is a vacant home and no one was inside at the time. no word yet on what might have started this fire. >> there were some reports, you know, that people walked in and out of this structure although it's vacant, but it's too early for us to have any sense as to what may have started this fire. >> reporter: we do know that response time was not a factor here this morning. the first fire company actually arrived two minutes after the

call came in. some of those companies were just down the street finishing putting out a fire that bock oue out at 11:30 about a half a mile away. we roug are told that home was o vacant and no one was injured. all of these fires were brought safely under control. megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. hundreds of city students are going to school to schools that might be gone next year. school ceo dr. andres alonzo is proposing another round of closures. joel d smith is here with a list of schools that are on the closure list, good morning. >> good morning, patrice. school ceo dr. alonzo says it's about creating better choices for parents. that can be done by closing schools with lower performance. the middle schools winston, chinquapin, an and diggs johnsod

doris johnson. some the schools have capacity for 700 students and yet only 200 are enrolled at those places. the plan would allow parents of 5th grader to choose where they want to attend the school either in their neighborhood or somewhere else in the city. still parents aren't buying it. >> this is just a distraction for the bigger picture, the power tricks. >> i don't think they should close it, because the only schools we have in neighborhood are winston and chinquapin and both of them are overcrowded. >> dr. alonzo says those schedules are not -- schools are not over cruded. overcrowded. parents will get their say at two meetings. and the board will have to approve it before they will go through later this year. joel d smith, fox 45 morning

news. we all know fast food isn't good for us, but sometimes when there's aer join a burger jointy block it can be hard to resist. now one lawmaker wants to give people options. they introduced a bill to the general assembly that would keep fast food restaurants from popping up in prince george's county. the bill would put a moratorium on licenses for fast food businesses and encourage healthy food restaurants to set up shop instead. 2008, los angeles approved a similar ban for one year in a part of the city. we want to know what you think. should there be a ban on licenses for fast food restaurants? that's the question of the day. call us at (410)481-4545. you can go to facebook.com or you can text your answer to

45203. enter fox 45a for yes or

is the next american idol from los angeles? the judges took their search for the next big star to the city of angels and from the sound of it, they might actually have a hit on their hands. >> when the night ♪ ♪ has come ♪ and the land is dark ♪ and the moon is the only ligt we'll see ♪ >> chris was actually the last contestant of the day and kara seemed to think they saved the best for last. >> you are one of my favorites today if not my favorite. we may look back at that audition and go, wow, because you're the kind of kid who has just enough talent and just enough of a story and pain that have gone through in your life to connect with it. i think you're only going to get better. >> let us know what you thought of last night's show. you can post your reaction on 4

facebook and twitter page. go to foxbaltimore.com/baltimore or send us a tweet at fox baltimore. you can follow candace dold on her idol blog as she takes us behind the scenes all season long. just go to foxbaltimore.com and click on american idol under the entertainment section. can you catch person in idol again tonight at 8:00 here on fox 45. a story, a lot of pain but i'm not going to make for an american idol champion, that's because i can't sing. need that. 31 salisbury, 31 hagerstown. temperatures are not that bad, guys, but it's going to get real chilly over the next couple of days. a west to east flow is bringing us only a 5-mile-an-hour wind, but it's keeping the rainshowers to the north out of our way. let's take a look then at the snow showers, i should say, sorry. they're moving into pennsylvania and moving into new york off of lake erie and ontario. not affecting our weather here.

it's going to remain dry and fairly sunny to start the day. look for fairly clear skies before the clouds roll back later in the day. the cold front that heads back to the north and west is bringing the cold air, getting very cold, temperatures getting in the mid-30s or near 20s by the time we get to the weekend. with the cold air in place and what is coming our way, the low pressure center that is coming up the coast we could be talking about snow here before friday and saturday. before that, snow could be moving into the western high levels, the mountains areas as you see, moving in by lear i lan thursday behind the cold front. by friday night into saturday, we will be talking about a different story as you will start to see some of the green area or blue area moving into tennessee valley that heads in our direction as we head toward friday night and into your saturday. here is what we're looking at, big picture. what we have a lot of cold air to the north. that cold air to the north is going to start to move on in

into our area and as it does, that cold air is going to allow for this low pressure center to start moving in that direction and mix with the cold air producing the chance of some snow. now, if that low does move off to the east, which may very well happen, then we get less snow amounts but some. if instead it comes up the coast as is a possibility and a better possibility as it feeds the secondary low pressure center off the coast we're going to get a chance of snow around here. we're going to be talking about as low 5 to 8 inches. what will help to determine that is high pressure also that will be moving to the north and wefort. if it'west. if it pushes the air to the south it's going to keep the low pressure center at bay to the south and keep the high amounts away and keep only, maybe, 2-3 inches of snow possible for then. instead the high pressure does not have as much force and pushes the low to south. the low comes up to the south and we get more snow out of it

which is more likely at least as it looks right now according to what we have been looking at right now. mostly clear skies, a west wind at 10-15 miles per hour. the central part of the state, 42 degrees for the high. that will come at 2:00 for the afternoon. don't look for much of a warm up because we're starting with temperatures in the 30s and only get to 32. only the part of the state, with partly cloudy skies. partly to start, a west, southwest wind at 5-10. as we move through the day, we will see 42 degrees, again gets thereby 40 at noon and getting to 42 at 2:00 and backing off to 38 at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow even milder for the time being, 46 and then a cold air behind the front later in the day on thursday brings in 30 degrees for a high for friday with ove overnight lows droppinn the 20s and the teens. the know coming your way for saturday night into saturday. the on set of snow difficult to call too, as it slowed down a

little bit. that is why we are thinking friday night versus friday afternoon we were thinking yesterday. partly cloudy skies, mostly clear on monday with a high of 38 and 42 partly cloudy for your tuesday. now let's see what happening on the roadways with candace dold. she has the traffic edge. >> reporter: that singer chris has been in 25 foster homes in his life. obviously good talent and a godd story as well. it's not a pretty picture on many of those lines. 28 miles per hour on the southbound lanes of 95 moving right through whitemarsh. now we do have an accident in baltimore that we need to tell you about. it's a crash that completely shuts down the ramp from moravia road on to northbound 895. we do want to show you the scene there. you can see all of the flashing lights on the side. here is the deal, it's involving a tractor trailer and a car. it's commanding a lot of attention there. you will want to use lombard street and then head over to northbound 895 it's a better option for the alternate route this morning.

as far as 95 and 895, we are incident free. again, it's just going to be a slow go there on the southbound stretch of 95. the top end of the beltway, pretty tough to negotiate your way around there this morning. it's all because of an accident on the outer loop lanes at cromwell bridge road, but it's backed up all the way from 95 leading up toward the scene. if you can, try to exit off at route 40 instead this morning. and the beltway, it does see a little bit of relief moving through pikesville but then it slows down at west the west side and liberty road we can show you the scene. here it is a packed house, now there's a disabled vehicle causing this. that's farther down moving right at route 40. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, back over to you. thank you, candace. still ahead is stopping new fast food joints from being built at prince george's county. it's all part of a bill under consideration by the general assembly. we want to know what you think, should there be a ban on lances

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one maryland lawmaker wants to increase the healthy dining options in the county. the bill was introduced that would prevent the approval of licenses for fast food businesses. he is hoping it will encourage the development of more healthy sit down restaurants. >> that brings us to the question of the day. should there be a ban on licenses for fast food restaurants? our first caller on the line is robert. >> good morning, robert. >> yes. >>hi, good morning, what do you think, should we ban fast food restaurants? >> no, i don't think so. people don't want to eat the

what they want to eat. if they had 100 restaurants open, they need the job. they need a restaurant at every corner and people don't eat fast food anyway. >> do you understand what the state senator is trying to do? >> right, trying to eat healthy. >> just not a good way to go about it. >> they need jobs, and people are going to eat what they want to eat. >> you're probably right about that, because the burgers look good right now. good morning, roger. >> roger? >> yes, ma'am. >> good morning. >>what do you think about banning fast food restaurants? >> i don't think they should ban them because it's not creating jobs? baltimore. they're always complaining about jobs in baltimore. >> that is one of the reasons for not liking this ban. they had a lot of reasons as well. let's take a look at what some of the facebook respondents had to say. cassandra said, agree, our country is in a state of crisis when it comes to obesity.

we have to address this crisis in radical ways. this is the beginning. she is one of the few that are in favor of the ban. most everybody else said no. an tasia wrote that it frightens me that we are grinning to make bans like this. it makes me think this is not a free country anyway. if feel want to eat healthier, let them learn to cook. let them make their own choices. not sure if the limiting fast food restaurants will improve our health as a nation but it's a good start. again only 30% of you say yes, there should be a ban on licenses for fast food restaurants, but the whopping 70% said no. well, coming up later on fox 45 morning news, which celebrity is tweeting about her plastic surgery and who is talking about new job opportunities? find out in tinsel town on twitter. >> they work on short hair,

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ladies we're always looking for a what to put up our hair while still looking stylish. easy comb claims to be the answer so we put it to the will it work test. easy comb promised to make almost every hair do, well, easy. >> now there's the new hair comb. >> the infomercial certainly makes it look simple. >> they work on short hair, thin hair and even work on thick, curly hair. that promise is what caught mckinsey's attention. >> i have tried clips in the

past, the butterfly clip and stuff. it doesn't hold my hair. it falls out in a matter of minutes. i'm thinking that judging by the way the comb stretches it's going be a do. >> we got two combs and a styling guide. >> i think i got it. >> oh, falling out. >> after three attempts mckinsey got the comb in but not for long. >> it said that it works good on thick hair and thin hair, so it's not working so great for my thick hair right now. >> and then problem. >> and then as you can see the comb part is starting to bend in weird ways. >> oh, already? >> yeah. >> mckinsey tried the other styles, the butterfly, french twist and pony tail, but each one posed the same problem. >> it feels pretty good in the beginning and now when you kind of move your head a little bit it falls out. the comb part is bending and

overtime it would just fall apart. for me, i would have to say it was a dud. >> for now mckinsey, she will stick with an old fashion elastic. for more information about easy combs just go to

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angelic voice in the city of angels. the most memorable american idol auditions. good morning. it's weapons, january 27th. i'm patrice harris. good morning, i'm megan gilliland. it's where everyone goes to find their big break, so expectations were very high when the american idol judges headed to los angeles for last night's big audition. so did they find the next american idol? >> remember everything that i told you ♪ ♪ >> ironic [ laughter ] >> okay. >> it's okay. take your time. >> he can't remember the words. >> he wanted to remember everything that he told us. >> i thought he was on to something. >> i thought he was starting out okay there. >> did you, really.

>> were we looking at the same show. >> i thought he was okay. there's been much worse. >> let's see what people thought. michelle wrote on the face book page. ki can do without the cat fighting between kara and carey perry. >> i think kara seems a little since last season [ laughter ] >> we want to know what you thought about last night's show. what were the most memorable auditions. who do you think made it through that maybe shouldn't have. post a reaction at our facebook and twitter page. go to foxbaltimore.com/baltimore or send us a tweet at fox baltimore. now let's go over to steve. i don't think it was fair that they had them audition in a sauna. did you see that she was sweating. >> she was nervous. >> that is real nerves. >> i have done the weather? a sauna before. >> when you lose three pounds during an audition, that is nerves.

>> it's not hot around here. it's going to be rather cold in fact. take a look at the temperatures au head out this morning. 30 degrees in harrisburg and 31 in richmond. chillier air to the west as you can see 20s. that is headed in our direction. it's going to get cold by the end of this week as high temperatures climb to the 30s or mid-20s. snow showers stay to the north for now and that is out of our way. what is coming our way is the snow event as that may be presenting itself on saturday night into saturday as the low pressure center out of the central or south natural part of the united states heads in our direction out the coast. we are talking about the chance of 4 to 8 inches of snow possibly, that may air is air v. the rest of the week gets colder. it will be colder for the weekend. look for the snow to arrive friday night into saturday regardless of how much it is. we will talk more about that in a few minutes. right now candace dold has the traffic edge, candace. >> reporter: i agree with that phase book comment. i was surprised that kara and katie went at it a little bit. we will see.

of course, we do have bad news, pretty much the deal out there heading out on the roadways. it's not going to be a pretty picture. here is the top end of the beltway moving right on the outer loop lanes at harford road. it's backed up big time all because of an accident farther down. it's right at cromwell bridge road. it's backed from 95. you will want to exit on route 40 and arrive at your destination that way. as for the entire stretch from 95 up toward 83, we're looking at a heavy ride there. 26 minute-delay, 38 for the actual time and look at this number, 16 miles per hour. so again, that is going to be a pretty much our trouble spot this morning. now from 83, up toward 795, doing much better there, 8 minutes at 54 miles per hour and then it slows down, but not as bad as the top end, 33 miles per hour with a 19-minute ride from 795 down toward 95. that's a look at your morning travels. patrice and megan, back over to you.

8:04 on fox 45 morning news. another group of schools is on the chopping block in baltimore city. school officials call them under performing, parents aren't so sure about that. joel d smith is here now with a list of schools. good morning, joel. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. school ceo andres alonzo's proposal would affect students at 12 schools and includes the closure of four middle schoolings anschoolsand the hig. winston, chi chinquapin, digs johnson and best baltimore and he wants to close the doors at doris johnson. alonzo says some the schools have capacity for 700 students yet only have currently 200 enrolled. the plan would allow 5th graders to choose where they want to attend middle school either in their own neighborhood or somewhere else in the city of course making the decision with their parents. he says change is difficult but parents need a better choice for haitheir children.

closure of the schools is a step in that direction. >> we're looking at 12 schools that are being rethought so there's better options for kids which is what every school system in america should be doing. they should be inning the number of good options for their kids. >> this is just a distraction for the bigger picture, the power tricks, the land developing, land swapping. >> reporter:swapping. >> some politics -- some parents like that one from the schools on the chopping block say they will fight the decision and they will have sometime to do so. the board still needs to approve the closures and parents will get their say on all of this at two public hearings next month. at least one hearing will happen on every school on the list. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. a controversial new grading system is put on hold in baltimore county. the program called aim became the target of many teachers who say it creates useless unnecessary work. the creator of aim says it was

designed to offer more he detailed information about student progress. last night the school board voted to stop moving forward with plans to implement it. >> there's a series of technical issues about the progress reporting components that have yet to be developed. those need to be developed before it should be implemented. >> the new system faced ethic questions about who would own the copyright. an assistant to the superintendent wanted to sell it. a firefighter is injured in battling a two alarm fire in northwest baltimore this morning. that happened before 3:00 along dorchester road. firefighters got control of the fire more than an hour later. it severely damaged this home here and the front of it, even partially collapsed. the firefighter injured was taken to mercy medical center after he slipped and fell.

he is expected to be fine. there were some reports that you know, people walked in and out of this structure although it's vacant, but it's too early for us to have any sense as to what may have started this fire. >> reporter: and last night there were another house fire just about a half a mile away on garrison boulevard. we are told that home was empty as well and no one was hurt. a team from john hopkins is on its way to haiti this morning. 10 members of the hopkins he go team will fly out of bwi thurgood marshal airport at 8:00. the team consists of doctors, nurses and other medical experts who have desaster response training. they will be headed to the hospital at port-au-prince where they will provide healthcare for earthquake survivors. >> two dig elements wil big elee conditions of practicing medicine without perhaps,

electricity or running water and i think dealing with the gravity of the situation and the tragedy is going to be emotionally difficult. >> a second team from john's hopkins will go to haiti on february 4th. you can see all of our stories about the desaster in haiti and find out how you can help. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on the haiti relief link in the top left-hand corner. coming up it's a wonderful world of tape and that means duck tape, too, of course. all the things you can make with it at tape-o-rama including clothes. riding shotgun ♪ ♪ right beside me ♪ with the blonde hair in the wind ♪ >> american idol heads to sunny, california.

it is a major sticking point. find out how you and your kids can use tape to make costumes. >> tape-o-r ama is happening at the art museum. pete is live this morning with the hometown hot spot. good morning, pete. >> hi, megan. >> what kind of things can we make with tape? >> we're mostly talking about

hats. >> look at you. >> it's just another day at the office here at the art museum. >> what kind of tape did you make that out of it. >> this is regular, old, clear packing tape. >> what are other ideas? we talked about costumes, what kind of costumes. >> we're focusing on hats at our workshop, but any accessory that you can think of you can make out of tape. we will be shown how to do it this weekend. >> this is for parents and kids? >> parents and kids, absolutely. we ask that kids come and do bring a parent because of some the handling of the sticky stuff, but it's great for everybody. >> come out and get your hands sticky. pete, thank you so much. >> thank you. tape-o-rama is at the american art museum. there's two sessions from 10:00 a.m. to noon and the second is from noon to 2:00 p.m. for more information log to on o

foxbaltimore.com/morning. and looking at the sky watch hd radar indicates to the north there's know showers. we will see that as we widen things out from pennsylvania and new york state. it's moving west to east and the westerly flow, again it's going to be bringing us, well it looks like just 5-10-mile-an-hour winds for the most part this morning. maybe a 10-15-mile-an-hour wind later in the day although it's windier to the west. the general flow will be from the west and that is going to keep the snow showers to the north out of our way. 34 in d.c. 30 in salisbury. up in hagerstown 32 and in oakland, chillier there at 30 degrees. our scan will indicate that we have dry conditions right now as the frontal boundary pushes off to the east. we will see again, sunshine it looks like before the next front pushes in and that won't be until tomorrow midday starts to move into the western counties. could be a little snow there and cold air for the rest of us. the cold air plus the low pressure center that is going to be moving out of the gulf coast

and headed through the tennessee valley, in our general direction, may feed a second cold front off the in carolina . the high pressure center to the northwest is going to bring a lot of cold air and then the question is will the rush of cold air keep the flow further toward the south. if it does, it brings the flow before it gets here and the snow to the south virginia and north carolina. the other possibility is it comes up the coast if the high pressure doesn't bring the cold air, there's a rush until we get more snow. right now we're looking at, and this is an early call, don't hold me to this quite yet, i'm thinking in the neighborhood of 4-8 inches of snow the possibility friday night into saturday morning. 42 degrees and mostly clear skies for the eastern shore today. today a quiet day, a cool day but really where we should be for this time of year. 10-15-mile-an-hour wind. back to the west cooler at 37 degrees. and then for tonight, partly

cloudy skies will turn mostly cloud overnight as we drop to 30 degrees with a southwest wind at 5-10 miles per hour. again after today's 42, tomorrow milder before the front works in later in the day. 46 degrees for the high and then 30 and 26 for your friday and saturday, the day that we think we will see snow arrive later on friday into early saturday. 30 degrees on saturday with partly cloudy skies. mostly clear and partly cloudy for the monday and tuesday with a high of 38 and 42 respectively. that was an earlier projection. we will have to see how the low pressure center is tracking as we get closer to it tomorrow. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge. candace. >> reporter: thank you, steve. it's been a pretty difficult 8:00 hour for us. we are checking on the actual speeds and look at these numbers, 25 miles per hour on 95 traveling right in the

whitemarsh area. and then the jfx, look at that, 18 miles per hour so even slower there. now we do have quite a few accidents to talk about. there's one in baltimore. it's finally in the clearing stages, but it did shutdown the ramp from moravia road on to northbound 895. you can always use lombard street and head on to northbound 895 to scoot around all of that activity there. now as far as 95, right at the americanmerge we do want to shou what it looks like, here it is not too bad. we will take this moving through the rosedale region heading toward baltimore there. now 95 a little bit farther up, reduced speeds there moving from whitemarsh down toward the beltway. the beltway is going to be a pretty horrible picture and it's all because of an accident on the outer loop lanes at cromwell bridge road. it's backed up from bel air road. try to use 95 or even route 40 as the alternate route this morning. the beltway eases up on the

beltway, and wrapping up on the west side. let's show you the scene at liberty road. it's still going to be a slow go there all the way down toward 70. that's a look at your morning travels. patrice and megan, back over to you. thank you, candace. here comes the bride. wedding in a week sponsored by fox 45 wedding wire.com and the baltimore bridal show is back. one luck h lucky engaged couplel get an entire wedding on us. to enter tell us in 100 words or less why you should win. send that intrsend that entry tn a week at 2,000 west 41st street, baltimore 21211. send in a photo with your entry. you only have until friday to enter. next week we will meet the four finalist and next friday is the big day. that is when we announce the big prize winner. up until that point that is when

the viewers will have on to be involved. they get to vote on the details of the wedding, the dress, the honeymoon. not as to who they wed. >>once you decide, we will put the wedding together in just one week. if you are getting married and need special ideas for your wedding day. you can get them at the baltimore convention center on february 6th and 7th. going to be a lot of fun. paula abdul could soon be on the move. the show that she could move in with her old partner, simon. a lot of these games come from just playing with the kids. >> plus, it can be tough to keep the kids occupied all the time. now the games they can play all by themselve

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it's that time, time for tinsel town on twitter. of course, we're finding tweets and bringing the hottest news from hollywood to right here in baltimore. >> we're talking about paula abdul, possibly landing a new job. is she talking about where she is headed. >> she could end up on television screens pretty soon, actually. another network has offered paula a $1 million development deal which includes her judging one of their dancing competitions. according to the proposal she would also be allowed to do x factor with simon cowel. >> simon and paula met a week ago to discuss the show. i went to paula's twitter page to see if she is giving us any details. >> on january 22nd, just had a creative meeting, so many things to share with you followed by a smiley face. >> following a meeting with simon? >> i don't know if it's about that but put the two together,.

>> she has a crush on simon. >> flirted so much. >> we will have to see. >> something else that we could not start talking about around here, is heidi's plastic surgery frenzy. she underwent 10 plastic surgeries in one day. two months later she is facing a lot of crticism from hollywood but she is proud about the transformation and tweeting about it. january 21st, note to anyone who gets a nose job, take off your tape in the shower after it is wet. i mean, who in the world writes this stuff. >> we were talking about her yesterday. she says she is going to get as many as she feels she needs until she is perfect? >> she is even twitting about the fact that she is working out. obviously, she doesn't think she is completely perfect. >> she looked better before.

>> i think they need to work on something up here. >> i agree. >> some kind of surgery up there. >> i a gru agree. >> i want to end with country singer miranda lambert who is climbing up the charts. she is getting help from twitter. country singer can't believe miranda lambert hasn't had a number one before. she is so close. call your radio station and help her out. she twitted, fans ask country radio, we did it together. white liar is my first number one. it did, it hit number one on the country charts. >> twitter. >> vote for fox anytime, i'm not sure for what. >> it's a powerful tool and obviously that proves it? >> good for her. >> we always want to keep you up-to-date on the latest news whether it's from here or

hollywood. make sure to follow us on twitter, log on to foxbaltimore.com and click on twitter under the feature community section. being a mom and even a dad is a full-time job. >> there's always something going. >> the games that will keep your kids busy so you can sit down for a few minutes. sunday morning raining falling ♪ ♪ still some cover chef >> plus the studs and duds from last night's american idol audition. what the jud

do you feel like your little kids are glued to your side. find yourself, knee bouncing for entertain. pull up another chair. in this week's 411, a game they can play all by themselves. >> reporter: with 5 children running around. >> there's never a dull moment in the house. >> reporter: the robinson kids range in age from 2-12 years old. >> when you talk. >> there's always something going on. >> today the they are over to play with the two kids. >> we play with our kids. >> but over the years, they noticed a trend. >> the youngest is the one left out of the older activities. these two carroll county dads came up with a bright idea. a website that even the youngest one can play all by themselves. >> i like that, that. >> reporter: with a tap of any key, little lillian a robinson test out her dad's

game. they now have 18 colorful lively games. >> kids have to pop bubbles. so a lot of these games come from just playing with the kids. >> reporter: but behind all the bright colors and music. >> we have introduced a lot of educational concepts. >> reporter: like shapes, colors and numbers. >> i do all the drawings and create the games and the characters and things. ask kurt dozen all of the i programming. >> reporter: this local site has gone national. >> this year we have had almost 2 million people visit the site online from over 183 countries. there's so many ideas on how to round it out and make it bigger and better. >> we're moving into the i we're developing more web episodes and t.v. episodes. >> reporter: right now seeing the smiles on their own kids makes it all worth it. [ laughter ] >> if you have an idea for our next family 411 segment, you can

send me an e-mail at fox baltimore.com. coming up american idol heads to the lone star state. we get a sneak peek of tonight's texas side show. plus check this out, we have a horse and carriage outside in our parking lot. why you ask.

welcome back to fox 5 morning news. 8:31 is the time. i'm patrice harris. good morning, i'm megan gilliland. they were trying to make it to hollywood even though they were already there. riding shot gone ♪ ♪ right beside me ♪ singing songs we already know ♪ life is beautiful my friend >> not bad american idol took the search for the next big star to los angeles last night. i think he is pretty good. there were pretty good ones right there. >> i liked him, he was good. >> also some really bad ones.

>> we want to know what you thought about last night's show. memorable auditions and whatever you thought about last night's show, you can post your reaction on our fashionbook or twitter page. go to foxbaltimore.com and send us a tweet at fox baltimore. we got a lot of people's comments. >> i want to go to hollywood knowing the snow we have predicted here. >> meteorologist steve fertig here with the details. we have a couple of different scenarios that may pan out. one would be to take it the south and we could get a lot less. the another one is not what we would choose, it's coming up the coast. >> we're voting out. we see temperatures in the 30s throughout the area. 31 degrees in north baltimore and the surrounding area in the low 30s as well. we are looking at dry conditions for the timing wit time being wf

sun. with it cold air, but not so much today but tomorrow night the cold air moves in and what follows is the opportunity for a potential snow event. 42 degrees the high temperature today with a west wind at 10-15 miles per hour. right now we do want to see what is happening on the roadways and to do that, we need to check in with candace dold who has the traffic edge. >> thank you, steve. we do want to he show you what it looks like out there on 695 moving at greenspring avenue. here it is, you can see it is starting to clog up moving toward the jfx. the inner loop lane is the concern moving through this area. as far as the entire stretch right now from 795 all the way up toward 83, a pretty slow go looking at a 4 minute-delay, 12 minutes for the actual time, 36 miles per hour. now the outer loop lanes, well that volume continues to increase from 795 down toward 95, 21 minutes at 30 miles per hour there. then, much better news through baltimore right now, southbound 95 fort mchenry tunnel toward the beltway, 8 minutes of nice

and calm, 53 miles per hour. that's a look at the morning commute. patrice and megan, over to you. here is a look at our top stories. the team from john hopkins is on its way to haiti this morning. 10 members of the hopkins go team flew out of thrush good march hall airport just about a half an hour ago. that team consists of doctors, nurses and other desaster relief experts. they will provide health care for earthquake survivors. president obama will deliver his first state of the union tonight. it's expected to focus largely on middle-class americans and the issues that matter to them from taxes to jobs. you can watch the president's state of the union address here on fox 45. it airs tonight at 9:00. and governor o'malley's office is changing his address of the state address for a second time.

it was scheduled for tonight, but it was pushed back for the president's state of the union. it was changed to february 4th but incoming baltimore mayor stephanie railings blake wilrawlings-blakn on that day, so the state of the state address is scheduled for noon on february second. in the lone star state the egs on are texas size, american idol goes to dallas and contestants go gagaover a hometown hero. sheer here is a behind the seens look. >> big expectations, big heat, big voices, big spirit, we have a great track record here so excited to be back here. >> reporter: it caused frenzy when 9 native jo john is came b.

>> i'm bringing anything to the table. i think i will probably bring an honest answer and honest opinion on the singers. we will see how they do. >> kind of the middle of his career and it's crazy and it's huge and he can really give them some good advice. >> the train claims my 15 minutes of fame ♪ ♪. >> reporter: dallas didn't disappoint but for simon the reinvolving door at the judge's table was a little disconcerting. >> it's been good. different people, i'm trying to adjust to that. >> reporter: one thing that doesn't change, a few of the want to bees having misplaced self confidence. >> i might date another ♪ ♪ race or color ♪ >> people are still delusional, it's the ghus number one word ie english dictionary.

it refers to dot dot dot people. oh, boy! american idol does continue tonight at 8:00 right here on fox 45. coming up we're not done talking about american idol yet. >> you know what, you're the one that makes me go my hand [ laughter ] >> you are the son who make me. >> we are going to let you hear what the judges had to say about this guy. >> and right outside our doors, we've got a chariot awaiting you. how you can hitch a ride in this horse and carriage on some people don't notice the difference

between meat and mystery when they enter... the frozen zone. with my perdue frozen nuggets, there is no mystery,

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>>welcome back, 8:40 on a wednesday morning. and we're talking about the possibility of some snow coming our way for friday to saturday. until then, rather quiet. take a look at the sky watch hd radar. you are looking at a dry scan. you will see snow showers moving into new york state and into pennsylvania from west to east. the lake-effect snow not affecting our weather today. there could be a frontal bon briboundary that moves in our direction and could bring the western mountains for tomorrow. the rest of us going to hold off until friday night into saturday. right now locking a lock lookine winds. temperature wise 31 degrees in baltimore. 30 degrees in salisbury, 32 in hagerstown only 18 degrees in oakland and again, cold air is definitely coming our way. we take a look at the big picture here as the frontal boundary moves in. you will see we have dry conditions now. the clouds roll in. in comes the chance of showers throughout the area.

we are going to keep an eye on the low pressure center which could be taking the course up the eastern seaboard or moving out to sea and that is not yet determined. if it moves out to sea, it will decrease the amount of snow we see at all. otherwise it comes up the coast in which case it brings us a chance for significant snow event. we will have to see in terms of whether that tracking does bring it up the coast or not over the next couple of days in terms of whether or not we will see a major event around here. the temperature we are expecting to get a high for. mostly clear skies, the central part of the state, should climb to 42 degrees and most clear skies. further points west, look for a high temperature of 37 degrees with partly cloudy skies. tonight partly cloudy skies turn mostly cloudy as he we drop to 30 degrees. a west wind out of 5-10 miles per hour. after the 42 for today's high temperature, look for a high of 36 tomorrow. 36 on friday, the day we could

see snow move in late in the day into early saturday especially. 26 for the high on saturday. look at the overnight lows into the teens. 34 on sunday and it's 38 monday with mostly clear skies, 42 partly cloudy on your tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now here is candace dold with a look at the traffic edge. >> reporter: we have been dealing with persistent delays on many of the main lines. it's finally starting to ease up a little bit but still a pretty slow go. 36 miles per hour on 95. that is right in the northeast corner near whitemarsh. as nor 95 at 395, a better picture at 55 miles per hour. let's talk about the west of the beltway, we do have a crash a new one in fact moving at route 40. i do want to show you the scene

moving through the area. you can't really see the accident of the flashing lights in that area, but again it's going to be a good crowd that we're dealing with, both the outer and inner loop direction all the way up toward 70. farther up moving at liberty road on the west side, lets check out that area, the outer loop lanes are not even moving and that is the deal all the way down toward security boulevard. then, it becomes the inner loop lanes that are the concern and look at this, from pikesville, all the way up toward the 83. now a much prettier picture though, once you finally approach 83, here it is northbound and southbound lanes and that coast is completely clear. that is a look at the morning travels. patrice and megan back over to you. thank you, candace. coming up it's the song that bail an instant hit. pants on the ground ♪ ♪ with the gold in your mouth ♪ head turned side way ♪ pant hit the ground >> some the people singing that tune nowadays, you will be surprised. >> and we got a horse and carriage outside in our parking

lot right now. we will tell you how you can take a ride in some people don't notice the difference

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perdue frozen chicken. all white meat. no mystery. love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage. for your big day there's no better way to arrive in style than a horse and carriage. we are joined to talk about this fabulous horse and change we're sitting in. good morning. >> i don't know that i have been in a horse and carriage actually. >> you're missing a great adventure. >> actually one time in new york. this is how somebody is going to their wedding in style. >> we will pick up the bride at an undisclosed location and take her to the wedding.

then we will take the bride and groom from the reception to an undisclosed location. >> this is all part of our wedding in a week contest. one lucky couple out there is going to have all of this no charge to them. what is it about a horse and carriage that makes people think wedding? >> the cinderella romantic effect of a horse and carriage is the primary thing. >> how often do you do these? >>we do about 100 a week. >> is it just weddings or whatever romantic events? >> many engagements, mostly weddings, a lot of engagements. we do some anniversaries and princess parties and things like that. >> if you take someone out who wants to propose and they take their fiancée out or their intended fe fiancée do they ever say no. >> we had a situation where the coach man let us know it was a quiet ride back.

>> how can you say no, when you are in a romantic like this? >> we are going to meet all of our 4 finalist next week. next friday we will announce the winner. then our viewers will get to vote on the dress, and the food. this is one thing they are not going to vote on. we get to go horse and carriage. >> are you excited to do this? >> we like to participate in things like this. >> we have four horses, two blacks and two whites and we have four carriages. >> this one is decked out in purple. is that for the baltimore ravens. >> well, sure. >> we will need this next season. maybe you can take some the ravens to the game and they can get to the super bowl. >> our wedding if a week is sponsored by fox 45 wedding, wire.com and the baltimore bridal show and it's 1 lucky engaged couple will get an entire wedding on us. to enter tell us in 100 words or

less why you should win and send your entry to 2,000 west 41st street, baltimore 21211. you can go to foxbaltimore.com and include a photo with your entry and you only have until friday to enter. if you need some ideas for your special day, can you get them at the baltimore bridal show, february 6th and 7th at the baltimore a great broth brings out the best in your dishes.

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they call los angeles the city of angels, but idol hopeful jason did not have anything angelic on his mind during his audition. >> you know what, you're the one note who makes me go my hand ♪ ♪ you are the sun

♪ who makes me shine ♪ when you're around ♪ i'm always laughing ♪ i want to make you mine ♪ i touch myself >> jason's rendition of i touch myself had the feeling, well hear for yourself. >> i feel -- dirty. >> dirty. >> you make me feel dirty. i have seen those music videos. >> it takes a loot fo lot for ml dirty. >> especially with that top. >> really. >> he was just a little handful. >> and he was on the ground dancing and that is all i will say, but simon. >> dancing whatever it was. >> he gave it his all. we want to know what you thought of last night's show. you can post your reaction on our facebook or twitter page. just go to

foxbaltimore.com/baltimore or you can send us a tweet at fox baltimore. you can follow candace dold on her idol blog as she takes us behind the scenes of season 9. just go to foxbaltimore.com and click on the american idol icon under the entertainment section. of course, you can always catch persoamerican idol tonight on f. i like it when they toss it back to the judges? i do. >> it makes you go. >> i'm embarrassed to say. well, pants on the ground. it's the tune that you just can't help singing in your head all day long. and if you think you're the only one, you might actually be surprised at who else is jumping on the antidroopy drawers band wagon. jeanney mose explains. >> reporter: it's a song that has taken america by the pants, 4 little words, pants. >> pants on the ground. >> reporter: on. >> pants on the ground.

>> reporter: the. >> pants on the ground. >> reporter: the ground. >> looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. >> reporter: started as an audition sung at american idol, sung by a guy calling himself general plat. >> soon we were getting hit over the head with it. >> pants on the ground. >> pants on the ground ♪ >> you look like a fool ♪ ♪ parnts opants onthe ground ♪ ♪. >> reporter: it's become a t-shirt, a facebook page, the game try to keep the pants from hitting the ground. >> i think we will sing pants on the ground all day long. you know who were they were? kids with their pants on the ground. don't you understand, larry plat is calling you a fool. >> reporter: pants became a prop. >> pull them up. >> reporter: to know for sure that pants on the ground has

been runnin run into the groundn politians start sing it. a can h canadian politician uses to attack an opponent. >> the leaders of the conservative party was clearly caught on cbc with his pants on the ground. pants on the ground, looking like a fool with the pants on the grounds, thank you, some speaker. >> reporter: from a pa system in wal-mart. from a kid to a poodle, just wear a belt and quit belting out this song. >> pants on the ground ♪ ♪ pants on the ground. looking like a fool with your pants on the ground. >> general larry got the rights to that song. he deserves it. >> he is getting the message across. >> one guy said, don't you understand he is calling you

out. >> all i know is i'm voting for that politician. >> can you imagine the other politians there going, how many of you think knew what he was talking about. >> all of the ones that looked like that. >> good stuff. we are going to turn to the weather here. take a look at what we ar have here. a couple of dry days before we see the arrival of a potential snowstorm that could be in our forecast on saturday. saturday and friday -- friday and saturday only looking like high temperatures getting into mid-20s to near 30 degrees. it's going to be very chilly. 30 degrees on sunday and 42 on tuesday, again it depends on whether or not the low moves out to sea or comes up the coast in terms of how much snow we will get. >> enjoy the balmy 42 today. >> yes. and we had a weather kid this morning. >> with the winds at southwest 5, humidity 61%, pressure 30.06

and rising. >> w12 years old and from ellicott city. >> she wants to be a chef. >> we love that idea. >> we were quite impressed by that. >> do we ever turn down food around here. >> that is it for the general public. we don't turn our food. we will see you back here tomorrow.